This invention relates to landing gear on aircraft. More particularly this invention relates to a simple method which will automatically result in rotating the aircraft wheels when the landing gear is lowered.
When a large aircraft is several minutes from its destination it lowers its landing gear. When the aircraft touches down, whatever its ground speed, its wheels are not rotating. For a thousand feet runways are black with skid marks. The relatively small tires on the aircraft have a very short life. Bearing tremendous loads they skid for hundreds of feet when the aircraft touches down onto the runway. Blue smoke billows from the wheels.
It is an object of this invention to disclose a method which will result in the wheels under an aircraft automatically rotating when the landing gear is lowered. It is an object of this invention to greatly reduce tire abrasion, to greatly extend tire life, and to largely prevent tire failure on the aircraft. It is an object of this invention to greatly reduce landing gear, strut, and wheel bearing stress on an aircraft. It is a further object of this invention to eliminate passenger forward head motion when an aircraft touches down. It is a final object of this invention to eliminate airborne tire smoke and pollution when an aircraft lands.
The invention provides for a method of automatically rotating a wheel on an aircraft before landing comprising the following steps: using a rotatable circular member on an axle of a landing gear of an aircraft having an outer rim portion, an inner hub portion adapted for connection to the axle, and, a central portion extending between the outer rim portion and the inner hub portion; and, arranging multiple vanes laterally extending from the central portion so that airflow from a front side of the aircraft may not pass through the rotatable circular member and will cause the circular member to rotate in a forward direction.
In one preferred aspect of this invention the rotatable circular member is a wheel. In a second preferred aspect of the invention the rotatable circular member is a cylinder.
Various other objects, advantages and features of novelty which characterize this invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims which form part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages, and the specific objects attained by its users, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and description, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated.